The Guelph Eramosa Refugee Sponsorship Project’s (GERSP) young family of six arrived in Canada at Toronto Pearson Airport on May 17.
The Al-Ahmed family arrived tired but excited from Beirut, Lebanon, group officials say.
Originally from Aleppo, Syria, the family will live in Guelph for the next year, learning English and finding jobs.
The children have already started school.
“We have been so enthused by their evident joy and excitement,” said Par Weir, chair of GERSP.
Everyone on the GERSP committee has been involved in helping the family navigate the systems of arrival and settling in.
“You should have seen the children’s faces when they saw the carousel at Riverside Park for the first times,” said Rosslyn Bentley.
“As one of the other volunteers said, the international language of play needed no introduction.”
The next stage of welcome is the Sounds of Support (SOS) concert on June 17 from 4 to 9pm at Lloyd Dyer Park in Rockwood.
Local vendors including Goodfellows, Sweet and Nutty, Heaven on Seven and Sobeys will be providing food for the event.
There will also be Syrian food to sample and purchase.
The music will be the focus of the day with The Funga drummers, James Gordon, Wooden Bridge and star acts from The Jam School, as well as many other local young talent performing.
SOS isn’t just about the music with the “Connections” project with local schools the park fencing will be decorated with jigsaw pieces connecting positive messages of welcome and why the community is special.
There will also be stories from refugee families.
“This event is our aural handshake of welcome,” said Bentley one of the co-organizers of the event.
“We hope the community will come out to mingle with neighbours new and old and help put a face to the welcome our family has already received, all are welcome.”
